The Major Reason You Can't Afford Medical Insurance

a reply to: seasonal

800$+- for many, a month isnt trickle. As much as a house payment is a serious problem.

a reply to: Logarock

I was talking in general, the pigs are any who feed off an system that you feel like a sqare peg going into a round hole. And the ACA is similar to me being a square peg, and for $5,000 the ACA will allow me to be hammered into the round hole, with co-pays and deductions of course.

And the medical bubble will pop too. $800 a month is going to put a major part of the economy in the tank.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: loveguy

Then instant message me, with a good starting points on your info. I love being a punching bag....

Would you believe I don't know how to insert a members username into a pm here?
Would just spelling it in the box do the trick?

I could send hi-fives all day if I knew how to.

I imagined myself sending pms to the wrong people, or noone at all.
Makes me feel like a jerk just thinking about it.

a reply to:
Do you know where the private messages are?

If so just copy I just sent you one.

a reply to: jimmyx

It's a huge deal to me. My point is that the insurance companies can negotiate but WE cannot. If there is THAT much wiggle room on the costs, it is obvious there is skimming. I mean, we are not rich. The discount the insurance company got was THAT big.
It's a ridiculous system. I hate it.

a reply to: seasonal

I agree with you. It would have hurt us big time. I am just furious that an insurance company can negotiate for a number that was 1/10th what our bill said. Especially for stuff I did not use.

It is a huge racket.
And it is getting worse. Our insurance makes us take a health assessment and if they don't like your answers, the "Health Coach" calls and badgers you about your "goals in health". I had to deal with them just today. They will make exercise mandatory in order to keep insurance.

a reply to: katfish

Hospitals and Doctors won't tell patients this, but the "Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act", aka the EMTALA law, enacted by Congress in 1986, gives consumers a lot of levity, when it comes to negotiating your medical bill downward, and paying it off, as well.


EMTALA Facts from The Horse's Mouth: www.cms.gov...

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Thanks. I am just pointing out that the system stinks. And that insurance companies get to do what WE cannot, namely negotiate a lower cost.

As for preventative care: I literally just learned (this week) how to properly take my BP at home. In less than 3 mins I went from 146/95 to 128/83. I MOVED to a different chair. That's it! The arm must be relaxed, not hunched, with the hand relaxed and curving outward, and feet well supported. For years the docs had been yipping about my BP (until I quit doctors). Now they got nothing. My point: had I listened to the doctors instead of eating better, taking kyolic garlic, moving more, and taking my BP correctly, I would be on the da*n drugs, bumping into things (I tried them 20 years ago)

The doctors all too often need to find something to treat you for, so they can give you a drug.

We have to fight for our health. And when we get sick, we need someone to fight FOR us.

a reply to: katfish

I've negotiated lower costs than my copay on some things because I offered to pay out-of-pocket at a doctor's office rather than use my insurance.

Yes, insurance companies purchase in bulk and get lower prices, but he individual can do the exact same thing. Maybe the cost of the item/service won't be equivalently "cheap," but when considering the lack of a monthly insurance bill and copay (on top of what the insurance company pays), I'd be willing to bet that things start becoming pretty equal.

Not to mention that without insurance, the individual is free to shop around and even cross state lines in order to seek out the cheapest option--that's a big deal, especially when you're living in an area like me where KY (my 'state') is only 20 min to both Indiana and Ohio.